L.A.’s Air Was Once A Punchline. It Could Be Again

About this episode

The episode discusses the historical and ongoing challenges of air quality in Los Angeles, featuring insights from Ann Carlson on the city's efforts to combat smog.

Smog was once as much a symbol of L.A. as palm trees — a bane to public health and a national punchline on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show.” My guest on this California Sun podcast, Ann Carlson, author of “ Smog and Sunshine: The Surprising Story of How Los Angeles Cleaned Up Its Air .” details the decades-long battle that transformed the air from toxic to breathable. Today’s rollbacks once again threaten the air in L.A. and everywhere else. Get full access to Talk Cocktail Podcast at jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe

People in this episode

Host: Jeff Schechtman

Guest: Ann Carlson

Topics covered

• air quality
• environmental policy
• public health
• Los Angeles history
• smog
• climate change

Keywords

• L.A.
• smog
• air quality
• Ann Carlson
• public health
• California Sun
• environmental policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: California Sun, Tonight Show

Books & works: Smog and Sunshine: The Surprising Story of How Los Angeles Cleaned Up Its Air

Places: L.A., Los Angeles

More episodes of Talk Cocktail

• Russia’s Descent Into Madness: Slowly, Then All at Once · June 11, 2026 · 34 min
• No Rules, No Order: The World on a Knife’s Edge · June 6, 2026 · 35 min
• The Democracy of Grief · June 4, 2026 · 32 min
• California's Generic Governor's Race and the End of Local Politics · May 30, 2026 · 33 min
• How Civilizations Lose the Signal · May 27, 2026 · 46 min
• Teaching Students to Navigate Algorithms and Deepfakes · May 21, 2026 · 39 min